Honda Spokesman Gets Screwed By Honda Dealer

By Ben PopkenMay 9, 2011

An actor who pitches Honda cars in their ads says he got screwed over by a Honda dealership when he tried to get the very same deal he helps sell on TV.

Dennis Singletary tells TMZ that he went into one dealership trying to get the “The Really Big Thing” deal – 0% down, low rates, and $190 in monthly payments. With a credit score of 709, he qualified for these terms. Only thing was that that dealership didn’t have the car he wanted. So he went over to another Honda dealership, where they did have his car. But they said he didn’t qualify because according to their computer, Singletary’s credit score was only 663.

The actor argued, he called the first dealership and had them tell the second one how his credit score was 709, but they were unmovable.

“How is it that I am dealing with such blatant dishonesty and unethical behavior from one of your dealerships, when my face was all over the TV promoting the very deal I wasn’t able to get?” said Singletary in the indignant letter (PDF) he wrote Honda headquarters. “If this is the way I am being
treated how is everyone else being treated?”

One of the friendlier dealerships explained to him that Honda only needs to take the second highest credit score, but the problematic dealership was taking the 3rd highest credit score in order to make the actor pay higher monthly payments.

The actor went to a third Honda dealership where he finally got the car and terms he wanted.